Anthony Kim is back! Former US prodigy – who has not played a pro event since 2012 – joins LIV Golf after receiving ‘wild card’ for 2024 season

Anthony Kim, the former prodigy who has been in the wilderness for more than a decade, will make his long-awaited return to professional golf this week.

The 38-year-old will join LIV Golf and restart his career at the $20 million Rebel Tour event in Jeddah, which starts on Friday.

Although there has been no official announcement, Mail Sport understands that Kim has been handed a wildcard for the remainder of the 2024 season.

He won three times on the PGA Tour, starred on the United States Ryder Cup team and set a birdie record at the Masters a year before securing a third-place finish at Augusta, all before he was 25.

Kim, now 38, hasn’t played a professional event since 2012. Bad injury luck caught up with him (he had Achilles tendon surgery) and he soon disappeared from view.

LIV Golf boss Greg Norman teased Kim’s return at this week’s event in Jeddah.

It has been suggested that Kim’s reluctance to return so far is related to a lucrative disability insurance policy, said to be worth more than $10 million.

But LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman teased Kim’s return on Monday, sharing a promotional video that promised both a “rebirth” and “redemption” in Jeddah.

“In the silence of the desert, where time stops, a journey begins,” says the narrator about fragments of sand, volcanoes and a silhouette carrying a golf club.

‘For years, the path has remained dark and with little hope. But this is a rebirth. As a new path emerges, against a backdrop of infinite possibilities, witness the dance of redemption.’

Norman added alongside the video: ‘He oozes incredible talent. The world has seen it in the past and now it is an honor as Commissioner of LIV Golf to give this star the opportunity to be reborn.

‘Welcome back to the LIV Golf family, mate. The golf world has missed you.’

Mail Sport understands Kim has been handed a wildcard for the remainder of the 2024 season